Betrothed II: Reverse Psychology
by racle
Summary: Slade murders the King of Dreknath and takes over himself, then sends a nonfaked invasion to Tamaran in order to force Starfire to marry him. Robin faces a dilemma: Leave his girlfriend with his worst enemy, or allow her planet to suffer a genocide.
1. Not a Hoax

Chapter 1: Not a Hoax

An ordinary early dawn at Titans Tower was interrupted by an incoming video transmission. It was 5:01 in the morning and only Raven was up; she was on the roof, as she was often found. Her communicator (along with all the others) beeped to alert the Titans of the coming call.

Cyborg woke at the sound of the beeping and hurriedly unplugged from his battery recharger, even though he was still at 93 power, and ran from his room to answer the call. Shortly afterwards a face materialized on the screen. Raven and the other Titans arrived in the living room.

Cyborg thought he recognized the face.

"Emperor Galifore?"

"Yes, it is I, Galifore," said the Emperor. "I apologize for disturbing you so early in your morning. But events have transpired on Tamaran and we require your assistance."

"What happened?" asked Robin.

"Approximately 2 Earth hours ago, our embassy on Dreknath IV received an ultimatum from the King of Dreknath. He has threatened to invade Tamaran within six days unless Princess Starfire will marry him…"

"We've been through this before!" interrupted Robin angrily, "The whole army was a fake!"

"Yes, I know," Galifore said, "I myself am not sure what to make of this. I certainly do not wish to inconvenience you unless it is absolutely necessary."

The Titans looked at each other. Robin, the leader, made the decision.

"If you don't mind, I think we should wait a bit and see if this turns out to be a false alarm," Robin said. "If anything changes over there, let us know."

"Thank you very much."

The transmission faded out.

"So are we just going to act as if that conversation never took place?" asked Raven.

"Until he calls us again, yes," Robin answered.

The phone rang again—Cyborg typed at the computer and pulled up the image again—

The familiar visage of a black-haired, purple eyed Tamaranian girl flashed on the screen.

"What do you want Blackfire?" demanded Robin.

"I'm giving you this message on behalf of the Swamp Moons of Dreknath. We were intercepting that call Galifore gave you just now. The threat he speaks of is absolutely true."

"Why should we trust you?" Robin retorted.

"As the Chief Ambassador of Dreknath, I can assure you that _we_ are planning an invasion. Our fleet is on its way to Tamaran as we speak. Perhaps you will believe me after you get another call from Galifore in…" she looked over at what seemed to be a clock, "oh, about two more hours. If I were you, I'd start packing!"

"Chief Ambassador?" wondered all the Titans, but this transmission faded out as well.

Exactly two hours later, Galifore called again, just as Blackfire had predicted.

"Teen Titans, please come quickly!" Galifore pleaded frantically, "Our radar systems are picking up an enormous Dreknathian fleet at the edge of our star system!"

Still suspicious of a hoax—perhaps the ships were empty?—Robin ordered the Titans into the T-ship, taking only a few belongings with them.

Several hours later, the T-ship was nearing the outer edge of the Tamaran system…

"I'm picking up something on the radar!" shouted Cyborg. "It looks like a bunch of other spaceships!"

"I don't think we should go near them…" Beast Boy said nervously.

"Beast Boy's right!" Robin said, "Cyborg, can you find a way around them?"

"It'll take a bit longer, but we can go around them," replied Cyborg.

The T-ship evaded the Dreknathians and touched down on the Tamaranian Palace helipad. Galifore was already standing outside.

"Titans, come in," Galifore motioned for them to follow, "There is much we have to discuss."

Galifore led the Titans into the castle, down several identical corridors, to a large conference room. The two guards waited patiently outside, one standing on each side of the door, while the Titans were seated inside.

"Alright, what's the situation?" asked Cyborg.

Galifore said, "Well you already know that we've detected a Dreknathian fleet. Based on this, we are led to believe that the threat is genuine this time."

"Are you sure the ships aren't fake, or empty, or something?" Robin asked.

"No, we aren't sure at all," Galifore admitted. "At the moment we can only rely on the threats delivered to us by the Dreknathians. We all hope fervently that the ships are as fake as they were last time. If they are not, and we do not accede to their demands, we will pay a very heavy price. I will allow Princess Starfire to make this decision. Should we comply with the Dreknathian demands, or should we take the risk and refuse them?"

"I…" Starfire hesitated. She knew that her decision would be crucial to the fate of the Teen Titans and the Tamaranian Empire. She felt at once grateful that she had been allowed the freedom to choose and burdened by the responsibility for the fates of over seven billion Tamaranians. In history, the Grand Ruler had traditionally made the choice, and it was not usually in the favor of the princess in question.

"What happens if we refuse, and the Dreknathians mean business this time?" Beast Boy asked.

"The Dreknathians would invade…" Galifore replied.

"…I would be required to lead our troops in battle," Starfire completed his sentence.

"Please, do not feel pressured. You have five days to consider," Galifore reminded her, which only succeeded in making everyone more nervous and pressured.

The next morning, Tamaranian crews aboard the radar stations were calling home in panic. The Dreknathian ships were sailing in towards Tamaran! Galifore picked up a communication device that looked nothing like a phone, but functioned nearly the same.

After a few hurried words in Tamaranian, Galifore slammed down the phone-like object. "The Dreknathians are beginning the attack ahead of time," Galifore announced. "Titans, follow me to the shelter!"

The shelter turned out to be a large cellar several flights of stairs below the surface. At the end of a long, dark tunnel Galifore placed his hand on a specific patch on the wall and a door slipped open. Galifore walked into the cellar and switched on the lights. Beds, all kinds of nasty (from the other Titans' perspective, anyway) Tamaranian foods, and several computer panels adorned the walls of the cellar.

Galifore touched one of the panels and the screens of all the panels lit up.

"This one," he pointed to the one he had touched, "is the palace security center, and the others are videocamera feeds."

The Titans looked at the various screens. Insects looking just like the fake ones they had seen on their last trip here could be seen marching (crawling?) on their six legs, in long lines, through the gates and corridors of the palace. Here and there the palace guards in their white armor fought the insects with their axes. Each time a guard got his axe into an insect, green blood spurted out of the wound. Although several insects died for every palace guard, the sharp claws, teeth, and/or stingers of the Dreknathian insects eventually sliced through the guards' armor.

About ten minutes later, Blackfire's voice was heard on the palace loudspeaker system:

"The Dreknathian troops will withdraw when our King receives his prize!"

All over Tamaran, Dreknathian ships landed in fields and forests. Unending swarms of Dreknathians came forth from the dark interiors of these ships. In and around every city, anywhere there might be Tamaranian residences, these insects stood guard. In the face of this overwhelming assault, the Tamaranian army that would supposedly follow Princess Starfire's lead in battle was nowhere to be seen.

"What can I do?" Starfire asked no one in particular, "I cannot stand that disgusting creature, but I must save my people!"


	2. The King's Secret

Chapter 2

By the next morning, Blackfire had returned to a Dreknathian vessel orbiting Tamaran using a small shuttle. This vessel was several feet longer than any of the other Dreknathian ships. It was the command ship of the fleet.

Blackfire found her king on the bridge, giving orders to a few of the green slimy creatures.

"Your majesty," she bowed to him, "Emperor Galifore has acceded to our demands. Starfire is waiting for you at the palace."

"Thank you, Ambassador," the king replied. Blackfire turned and walked back to her quarters, smiling as she imagined the utter shock and horror that awaited all the Titans. None of them knew what she knew about her King. No one on Tamaran had yet seen the new King of Dreknath, who had recently murdered the late Gigrrisklechhh and taken the throne. He was actually familiar to the Titans, in his orange-black armor and his half-orange mask, his one blue eye and one blind. His name was Slade Wilson, and he was already a legendary criminal on Earth. Now, he had subjugated an entire planet.

King Slade I stepped into his shuttle and sat at the controls. The Dreknathian pilots would have very willingly flown for him, but he did prefer to fly the shuttle himself. He liked to have the control. On his way down, he checked to make sure his crown was with him. It was, of course—he never forgot anything, as he used 90 of his brain. He knew that the Titans might need some convincing to accept him as the King of Dreknath.

He looked at the nav computer again. He was nearing the Palace. He grabbed his crown and set it properly on his head, then landed the shuttle on the Palace helipad.

End Chapter...


	3. The Hero's Duty

Chapter 3

Slade's shuttle had landed, and the guards quickly spoke into the built-in microphones of their helmets, warning everyone about Slade's arrival. Slade jumped up on the special Dreknathian King's floating green platform and sat down on it. He pressed a button on the front of the platform and it levitated forward out of the shuttle and on into the palace, escorted by four Tamaranian palace guards.

After floating down several long hallways, guided by the Tamaranian guards, Slade finally reached the main hall. As his figure sitting on the platform emerged from the shadows, the Titans did a double take. Beast Boy fainted immediately from shock. Murmurs started to rise from the Tamaranian audience as they pointed at Slade and made comments in Tamaranian (very unkind comments, but Slade wasn't fluent enough in Tamaranian to understand).

"How is this possible?" Cyborg demanded, still shocked by the fact that the Titans' greatest nemesis was the King of Dreknath.

"How are you the king?" Robin shouted angrily.

"Whoa, calm down!" Slade stated calmly, "I will explain. I was your nemesis for years back on Earth. I have found you to be the ideal apprentice—you are almost identical to me in your indomitable will, unfailing determination, and wavering conscience. Alas, you refused to join as my apprentice, despite our obvious similarities of character. You remember all the schemes I went through trying to break your will. I failed. I knew that with heroes like you around, my dreams of world domination could not come to pass on Earth. I chose to leave the Earth and find some more easily conquered world. I found the swamp moons of Dreknath IV. The old king was a stupid, incompetent, weak, vile thing, and I killed him very easily. Now, I have achieved world domination on a different world—Dreknath. And Blackfire, who helped me in my conquest, is my second in command.

"I searched long and hard for the way to break you, Robin. I always knew that you loved Starfire. About a week after I took the Dreknathian throne, I thought of this idea. I know your will is strong, and I dare not harm your beloved Starfire, for I know firsthand the wrath of Robin when he seeks revenge. I have given up on ever gaining you as an apprentice, Robin; now, I live to torment you, and seeing your significant other married to your worst enemy will be the worst torture you could imagine.

"Don't even think of resisting now, Robin. The Dreknathian troops I command are genuine; and just think of what your reputation would be as a hero if you sacrificed seven billion Tamaranian people to save just one. I promise, Robin, that if I marry her, I will never set foot on Earth again. And you can go home with your Titans, forever feeling the guilt that you let down your one true love. Or, you can act to save her, and let your name be blackened in history for knowingly permitting seven billion hostages to die.

"You see, if only you were a villain instead of a hero, you would not be burdened by this duty to the innocent as you now are. I can tell you, Robin, that were I in your place, I would save my true love and sacrifice the planetful of people without so much as a second thought. See what you have missed by declining my apprenticeship. Please, don't be in a hurry to decide. I enjoy seeing your anguish."

The Titans and Tamaranians sickened with disgust at Slade's words; yet they did, in fact, ring true. In a twisted way Robin understood his enemy's point of view completely. He supposed that he should have prepared himself for this earlier. He had long known that being on the side of justice invariably involved decisions like this; but now that the inevitable moment had come, he was terrified. All eyes except Starfire's were on him, waiting. Robin had no idea what Slade wanted him to do; if he had, he would have immediately done the opposite. Under his mask, Slade smiled to himself.

End Chapter.

Question from Author: What do you think Robin should do? Think carefully. Robin is a hero, and he must protect the innocent. Tamaran's population is over 7 billion people, and I think Robin's duty to them outweighs his own happiness. Don't you agree?

Let me know what you think!


	4. The Prince of Tamaran

Chapter 4

"Robin, you are not deciding what Starfire does," Slade reminded him, "you are merely deciding whether you want to come and rescue her. I will be taking Starfire back to Dreknath IV for the wedding. Once we are married and you return to Earth, the Dreknathian troops will withdraw peacefully. If any attempt is made to rescue Starfire, however, then I will order my insects to destroy all life on Tamaran. Please spend as much time as possible agonizing over this incredibly hard dilemma.

"Starfire, we will be married on Dreknath. Please come aboard my shuttle," Slade took Starfire's hand and started pulling her towards his shuttle.

"Wait!" Starfire said urgently. Slade stopped dead in his tracks, but kept his hold on Starfire's hand.

All the Tamaranians looked up and paid the utmost attention.

"I am leaving you in an effort to save the lives of our people," Starfire announced to the chamber. "Since I am no longer able to serve in the capacity of the crown princess, I hereby bestow the title on Robin. Robin, I know that you must return to Earth as well, but I trust you to find someone of good character to serve as the crown prince of Tamaran. Until then, you are the heir to the throne. I leave this planet, and its people, in good hands."

The Titans could only look on mutely in shock as Starfire and Slade left the chamber.

Suddenly, a spontaneous cry of "All hail Prince Robin!" erupted from the Tamaranian audience. Robin remained shocked beyond words.

"Robin, what's the matter?" Cyborg asked. The Tamaranians were still shouting "All hail Prince Robin!" over and over in the background.

Finally, Galifore stepped up and picked Robin up in his hands, taking Robin out of the chamber. The other Titans followed. Galifore took Robin down a hallway and into an unmarked room on the left, setting him down in a chair. Galifore himself took the other chair and sat in it, forcing the other three Titans to stand.

"Robin? Robin, can you hear me?" Galifore asked.

"What's going on?" Robin asked, dazed.

"You are the heir to the Tamaranian throne," Galifore informed him. "You have authority over the entire Tamaranian Empire except for me. In addition, you are the commander-in-chief of all Tamaranian military assets. You are empowered to decide matters of war and peace. Be careful in starting wars, because you are required to personally lead our troops into battle."

Robin nodded. "I would really like to fight these Dreknathians and get Starfire back. But what military assets do you have?"

"Very few at the moment. The Tamaranian Empire has not been at its peak military strength for the last couple of years. The Tamaranian Navy has thirty starfighters remaining, but all our capital ships were destroyed by the Citadels about five years ago. That war also caused extensive damage to our planet's surface, and until last month we have been concentrating on rebuilding our civilian infrastructure and ecosystems. The first of several planned ships is under construction, but is currently hidden away to protect it from the Dreknathians. We have not yet rebuilt our planetary defenses, so we are still vulnerable to orbital bombardment. The major remaining part of our military is the Tamaranian ground militia. These are soldiers who live most of the time as civilians, but in wartime they organize into regional armies according to a pre-announced plan. The militias are organized by province and currently total approximately 1.7 million people across the planet. In addition to the militia, we have a professional army called the Tamaranian Imperial Army, which we started after our defeat by the Citadels."

"Really?" Robin asked incredulously. "I didn't see any troops but the palace guards. And they're all dead now."

"The Tamaranian militias are civilians until called to the line of duty by the Crown, at which time they will become soldiers at your service. The Imperial Army disguises themselves as civilians whenever they are off-duty, so they are not visible to invaders."

"Why is that?"

Galifore smiled inwardly. "We train our troops to quietly submit to invading occupiers until ordered to fight. This tactic encourages enemies to severely underestimate the true strength of our forces. In history, many invaders used to call us _Troqs_, meaning 'nothings,' and they all came to regret it. When we give the order, the militias will revolt en masse all over the planet, catching the enemy by surprise."

Meanwhile, Slade's shuttle entered the huge maw of a Dreknathian ship. The ship soon began to pull away from Tamaran and head off into outer space.

Slade parked the shuttle on the soft floor of the shuttle bay. The enormous opening snapped shut, and a door-sized hole opened in the thin, slimy wall in front of the shuttle. Now, Slade opened the shuttle's door and stepped out, pulling Starfire along with him. He led her to the door and stepped through.

Inside, the corridors were all different shades of green, with a thin layer of slime covering the roof, walls, and floor. The corridors were also exceptionally wide, compared to any in Titans Tower or the Tamaranian Royal Palace. At various places, other corridors intersected with the one they were in, but Slade continued down to the very end and then climbed up what seemed to be a very slimy ladder. Starfire chose to fly rather than touch the ladder. When they reached the top, the slime abruptly stopped; the floor Starfire looked out on was ordinary carpet, quite clean in comparison to the mucus-covered interior of the rest of the ship. Against one wall was a king-size bed; at the front of the room was a large desk with stationery. Another door in that wall was closed and Starfire guessed that it led to the bathroom.

"These are my quarters," Slade said very politely, "You will be sharing them with me on our way to the Swamp Moons."

End Chapter...


	5. A Civil Conversation

Chapter 5

Slade climbed up out of the ladder hole. Most of the room in front was carpet, but a strip of floor that extended just behind the ladder was concrete. Slade stuck his wet, slimy shoes in a certain spot and slipped out of them, stepping onto the white, clean carpet with just his black socks.

"You may leave your shoes on the tile," Slade said. Hesitantly, as if fearing some kind of trap, Starfire removed her purple boots and dropped them on the concrete floor, some distance away from Slade's much more dirty boots. Then she stood, stone-faced, at the edge of the carpet. Meanwhile, Slade pulled out the chair that had been pushed in at the desk and sat confidently in it.

For several minutes, they remained in position; Slade sat in his chair, twiddling his thumbs, tapping his foot, and generally acting very bored. Starfire remained as still as a statue, not moving a muscle, although she was still moving relative to the rest of the universe, due to her being on the Dreknathian vessel which was hurtling through space faster than light.

Finally, Slade broke the ice: "Starfire, what's the matter?" he asked, imitating Robin's voice of concern.

Starfire almost recoiled in shock. It wasn't so much the sudden intrusion of Slade's voice, but rather the fact that he had just managed to sound exactly like Robin, that surprised her.

"Star, have you ever noticed how similar Robin and I are?" Slade said, returning to his normal, accustomed voice. When she didn't respond, he continued: "I'm not sure if you remember, but you once said that yourself. I believe it was shortly after the first Red-X episode. I remember you telling Robin that he and I were similar, because I didn't trust him, and he didn't trust you."

There was just the tiniest spark of some expression on Starfire's face, but before Slade could decipher it, she resumed her poker face.

"Starfire? Starfire, are you there?" Slade asked loudly. "Starfire, talk to me!"

"What is there to talk about?" Starfire replied hopelessly.

"Anything! Um…I think, well, since we are going to be married, I think it would be a good idea for us to get to know each other better! How about…" Slade thought for a moment, using all 90 percent of his brain to think of a good question, "Aha! How did you get your powers?" He paused, and when she was hesitant, he decided to take the initiative: "I'll tell you how I got my powers, if it'll help. Many years ago, when I was twenty-three years old, my family and I were walking to the neighborhood park. Out of the blue, we were attacked by several gangsters. They beat me up and took off with my wife and son. I felt that it was my fault, that I had been too weak to protect them, and the event sparked my lifelong interest in martial arts. I spent most of the following thirty years seeking this knowledge. I searched for all the best martial-art masters in the world and sought their instruction. In the meantime, I made my living by stealing any money I needed, using my expanding skills.

"Within thirty years after the loss of my family, I had surpassed most of the best martial artists on the Earth. I even found the True Master—didn't Robin recently take her instruction as well? Anyway, after training with the True Master, I joined the British Security Service. I became one of their top agents over six years before I was killed in action."

"But if you were killed in action, why are you still alive?" Starfire asked.

"Once I decided to join MI5—"

"What is this 'mi5" you speak of?" Starfire asked again.

"The British Security Service. Anyway, before I applied for a job there, I knew that there was a great risk of death. Thus, I spent the few years prior in building a personal cloning chamber. I put a lifesign monitoring device on myself with a radio antenna that could communicate with my computer. If I died, the device would trigger the opening of the cloning chamber, giving me a new body. It would also automatically start growing a new clone, thus ensuring that I would have a steady supply. That is how I gained immortality. It took a while longer—actually, seven years—to succeed in building a neural interface into the lifesign monitor and the cloning chamber to make sure that all my thoughts and memories would transfer to the clone. The memories were what really would make the clone an exact copy of me. I'm very glad I took those arduous precautions, because they saved my life.

"I thus died on a mission for MI5 and reawoke in my cloning chamber. I learned from my mistakes and survived service in other renowned intelligence agencies. Eventually, I ran out of challenges and became very bored. I traveled from city to city, making a living as a thief, searching for some place with a competent police force that would challenge me. It was a long while before I found Jump City. You Titans were a great challenge for me, and that's why I chose to pick a fight with you.

"Several months ago, after I fell into Terra's lava pit under Jump City, I was discovered by a demon named Trigon the Terrible. He revived me before my cloning chamber opened, and in return for my promise to serve him, he granted me the powers of fire. So I have the mortal abilities of martial arts, and the superhuman abilities of fire. Well, that's how I got my powers; what about you?"

"I was an experimental subject of the Psions, several years ago," she began, "The Psions performed several extremely painful procedures on me in order to test the solar capacity of Tamaranian physiology. During one of these experiments, they accidentally gave me starbolts. Once I discovered these powers, I immediately used them to escape from their laboratory."

Slade nodded. "How did you get into their experiments? Did they kidnap you from the palace when you were a kid?" he asked.

"They took me from the home of a Gordanian general," she answered.

"Why the Gordanians?"

"Tamaran was defeated in a war with the Citadel Empire eleven years ago. Along with the surrender the Citadel took me as a peace offering from Tamaran. I was given to the Gordanian troops, who took me to their planet. They are among the most prominent slave traders in this sector, but the Gordanians never did sell me. It seems that I was worth more to them as a slave than the money I would have been worth on the black market. Six years later, a few Psions snatched me in a night raid. I still do not know whether to thank the Psions for rescuing me from Gordania, or be angry at them for the cruel experiments they did on me. I suppose I did eventually gain something from the Psions, after all."

Slade nodded in understanding, although his expression of sympathy was not visible through his mask. "I see you had a very hard childhood," he observed. "I must say I truly feel sorry for you. I've seen a lot of terrible things in my life—as a child on Earth, as a spy for brutal governments—but I am lucky never to have actually experienced it myself. It seems like you were not as fortunate. I would say, though, that if I were in your place, I would rather have been taken by the Psions and endured their experiments, because at least you got something out of it. I suspect you would not otherwise have escaped the Gordanians."

Meanwhile, thousands of other Dreknathian ships were once again descending upon Tamaran, blotting out the sun and turning the sky black. This time, the millions upon millions of insects were crawling out of the cities, forming orderly swarms in the countryside. A dozen thousand at a time they crawled back into the massive transport ships, each of which eventually ascended away from the planet.

The Titans, at the window of Galifore's room, watched the sky turn to daylight once again as the Dreknathian fleet withdrew. King Slade had kept his promise.

Galifore turned to Robin. "Please, Robin, do not worry. Someday, when we are strong again, we will retrieve Princess Starfire. Even if it takes many years, we will restore her to you."

"And who knows what will happen to her in the meantime?" Robin retorted. "How do you know she'll even be alive when you get your empire back on its feet?"

"You are the second-ranked person on Tamaran," Galifore reminded, "You have the authority to give orders here. If you believe there is a more efficient way to rebuild our Empire, I will allow you to try."

End Chapter.


	6. Defiance

Chapter 6

"It's getting late," Slade commented, after glancing at the bright neon-red alarm clock sitting on his desk next to the bed. It was, in fact, 9:74 p.m. (Slade had re-wired his alarm clock to conform to Dreknathian time, which ran by a clock of 100-minute hours with 20 hours per Dreknathian day.) "I usually take a shower before going to bed, as I am sure you do as well. The bathroom is through that door," Slade pointed out the door which Starfire had correctly guessed was the bathroom.

"Perhaps you should take a shower first. I will wait," he suggested. As an afterthought, he rushed over to a closet on the other side of the room, pulled it open, and took out a large black T-shirt and an equally large pair of orange pajama pants. "Here, you can wear this," he tossed the clothes, along with its hangar, to Starfire. She looked at it; although it was a few sizes too large for her, she had nothing else to change into, so she took it and entered the bathroom. Slade quietly walked over to the ladder that led down into the rest of the ship and made a sign. He stepped back and Blackfire popped up from the ladder.

"Give me the Robin suit," he whispered in her ear.

"Here it is, Your Majesty," she handed him a small package, bowed, and hovered back down the ladder shaft.

Meanwhile…

"Beast Boy, wake up!" Beast Boy jerked awake, sitting up in a hurry. Robin was kneeling next to the bed.

"Robin?" Beast Boy said as his eyes focused enough for him to recognize who it was.

"Shh!" Robin placed a finger on Beast Boy's lips. "Quiet! Come this way!" he whispered, pulling Beast Boy out into the bright hallway.

"What's going on?" Beast Boy whispered as they tiptoed silently to Cyborg's room.

"We're going to rescue Starfire!" Robin whispered back, as he led Beast Boy into the door and up to Cyborg's bed. Cyborg was snoring, plugged into a small box that was clearly an electrical transformer, which was in turn plugged into a wall outlet.

Robin pointed to the transformer and pantomimed pulling out a plug. Beast Boy nodded and sneaked towards the transformer. Meanwhile, Robin waited by Cyborg's head. Beast Boy pulled the plug, causing Cyborg to snap awake. "Cyborg, quiet!" Robin quickly whispered.

"Huh?" Cyborg looked around. "Robin, what are you doing up this late at night?" he whispered.

Slade heard the shower turn off in his room. Shortly afterwards, Starfire emerged from the bathroom, wearing Slade's shirt and pajamas and with her hair wrapped in an orange-and-black towel. Slade stood up and motioned to the bed. "Make yourself comfortable," he said politely, then walked into the steamy bathroom and closed the door.

Cyborg seemed a bit nervous, but accepted Robin's explanation for being woken in the middle of the night. It didn't matter to Cyborg anyway; he was already at 93 percent power so he was the least tired member of the group. Quietly, the three boys re-crossed the corridor into Raven's room, evading two passing palace guards.

"Raven, wake up!" Robin whispered again. Raven didn't stir.

"Raven! Raven, wake up!" he tried again, this time a little louder. When that didn't work he grabbed her shoulder and shook her a few times. She groaned and wearily opened her eyes. When she saw Robin standing over her she snapped awake. "Robin, what—" Robin quickly placed a finger on her lips. "Quiet! Don't wake up the guards!" he whispered.

Suddenly she realized what was happening. "You're going to save Starfire, aren't you!" she whispered. The three male Titans nodded grimly. Robin pulled her from her bed, nearly making her fall to the floor. "Hurry! We've got no time to lose!"

"Wait!" she whispered anxiously. "Didn't Galifore say he'd get Starfire back for us?"

"Yeah, in a couple of years," Robin whispered back fiercely. "Who knows what Slade'll do to her while Galifore rebuilds his empire. She could be dead by then!"

"But the Dreknath insects! They'll destroy the whole planet!"

"If the Tamaranians are afraid to fight for their beloved princess, they don't deserve to live!" Robin was so angry that Cyborg only barely managed to pull him back from running into a palace guard.

Raven sighed in defeat. She knew that she would never convince her stubborn leader to have patience. It was clear that the Tamaranian civilization, her friend's race, was doomed, and so was Robin's entire reputation as a hero.

Back on the Dreknathian ship…

Starfire looked around the room one more time. There was only one bed. Sighing, she drew back the covers and found the bed to be quite clean. She started to get into the bed…

Suddenly a green gloved hand extended out of the ladder at the back of the room. Starfire stopped, instantly alert, and watched. Moments later, a second green hand, and then soon after, the familiar visage of Robin clambered up into the room. He quickly held a finger to his lips, signaling for her to stay quiet so that she wouldn't scream in excitement. He silently walked up to the bed and started leading her back down the ladder and through the many corridors.

Robin came to an intersection, when several footsteps could suddenly be heard. It was a group of Dreknathian insect guards! Robin peeked around the corner, saw them, then quickly turned back, pulling Starfire into a nearby room and shutting the membrane. The room was thankfully empty. The Dreknathian footsteps were soon passing by in the corridor, finally dying down.

"Oh, Robin! I am very glad to see you!" Starfire squealed excitedly when the footstetps had passed.

"Same here," he replied, leaning in to kiss her. She embraced him eagerly and their lips met for a few seconds before he pulled away, leaving her slightly disappointed. "I love you Star," he murmured, "but I am not Robin."

He pulled off his black spiky wig and his Robin mask, revealing his bright white hair and deep blue eye. All in all, he was quite handsome, except that one of his eyes was blind; next, he reached to his utility belt and pulled out a Slade mask. Starfire watched with increasing horror as he put the mask on and it fit perfectly. He then stripped off his cape, gloves, and Robin costume, revealing the familiar gray armor.

"No, no, don't be afraid," he intoned as Starfire stepped back and made her hands glow green. "As I think I've proven, I am like your Robin in every way. I even fit into his suit and mask. I am stubborn, suspicious, paranoid, and untrusting, just as Robin is. I am more skilled than he with all his own weapons. I even have powers beyond him—the element of fire. There is nothing Robin has that I do not. If he qualifies for your affections, why not I?

He spoke as fast as he could, but barely got the last word from his mouth before he had to cartwheel aside. A stream of starbolts whizzed through the space he had been just a second ago. Starfire's rage was such that the starbolts were powerful enough to ignite fires wherever they struck the floor and wall, drying and then setting fire to the mucus covering the interior of the room.

"Please, listen to me!" he pleaded, bobbing and weaving around the room chased by enormous starbolts. "I love you, I really do! For the same reason Robin loves you!"

End Chapter…


	7. Lover's Spat

Chapter 7

"Starfire, please stop!" Slade begged, while bending and twisting around a stream of starbolts. "I don't want to hurt you!" The increasing frequency of the starbolts made it more and more difficult for him to dodge. Finally he whipped out his bowstaff and stood still, twirling the bowstaff around him. Starbolts bounced off the rotating blur of his bowstaff, ripping into the living walls of the chamber. By now the room had been so damaged that blood was starting to ooze from the wounds. Slade continued to move the staff quickly, making sure not to bounce any of the starbolts at Starfire.

The commotion had attracted the attention of the guards. Suddenly four large green insectoids burst into the bloodied room, scuttling towards Starfire with extended claws and open jaws. "Starfire, look out!" Slade cried, but it was too late. The insects tackled Starfire, toppling her to the floor and quickly pinning her down.

"Guards, back off!" Slade ordered. The four insects immediately crawled out of the chamber as Slade rushed to Starfire's side. "Starfire, are you okay?" he asked in a concerned voice.

"I am undamaged," she replied uncertainly, visibly shaken. Slade chalked it up to being suddenly attacked by the Dreknathian guards, but in reality, she was more shaken by the fact that Slade had said "Are you okay" in the same tone of voice that Robin always used whenever she was hit by any of the Titans' nemeses in Jump City. It was as if Slade really meant what he said; as if Slade did love her. _No, that's impossible. He's just trying to confuse me_, she thought.

"I'm sorry," Slade said, extending his hand. "I was trying to prove that I was similar to Robin. I didn't realize how badly you would react to it…" Starfire refused to take his hand, getting up on her own instead, but she couldn't deny that he sounded completely sincere. "Come on, let's go back to our quarters," he said, leading her back the way they had come. She followed sullenly, and she felt conflicted. Could Slade have been telling the truth? What made Robin any better than him?

Several light-years away, four figures tiptoed out onto the helipad of the Royal Palace. They were lucky that no guards had happened to be looking, because they were silhouetted against the bright, star-filled night sky. As quietly as possible, the figures popped open the hatches of the T-ship and got in, one to each seat. Suddenly, there was a sound of rockets flaring—the only audible sound the Titans had made so far—and then the T-ship ascended away into the cold void.

A few guards looked up at the sound, just in time to see the recognizable silhouette of the T-ship rocketing away. The guards quickly realized what had happened.

One guard spoke into his com-link: "This is Karakec reporting from the main gate, the T-ship is being stolen!"

In a small room in another part of the interminable palace, a few more Tamaranian guards, carrying axes but not dressed in the armor, sat before large computer panels and heard the cry. "The T-ship is being stolen! Repeat, someone is stealing the Prince's personal starship! Someone is stealing the T-ship!" In the room, one of them punched a dark green button. Alarm sirens blared all over the palace. Another of the unarmored guards flipped a switch and spoke to another com-link. "We need interceptors launched immediately to retrieve the T-ship!"

Out in space, the four Titans sat in their seats on the "Prince's personal starship", Prince Robin of Tamaran's T-ship, which actually belonged not only to him but also to any of the other Titans.

"We're passing the comet cloud of the Tamaran system!" Cyborg reported.

Suddenly, on the navigational panels, a few dots appeared at the bottom of each of the Titans' round radar screens.

"We're being pursued!" Robin called. "Cyborg, can you get a visual?"

"They're too far away right now, but in twenty seconds they'll have gained on us enough to get visual ID!" Cyborg replied.

"Let's put off the visual as long as possible. Go to maximum speed!" Robin ordered.

"We're at twenty times lightspeed and increasing…" Cyborg reported, "Twenty-two times, twenty-four…"

"Uh…those guys are still gaining on us," Beast Boy observed nervously.

End chapter.

Author's Note: I am currently toying with the idea of making this an actual SladexStarfire romance instead of a "Slade-gives-Robin-hard-choice" story, especially after receiving a review from the like-minded reader, **rixietrixie91**. (Send any flames and/or unfavorable comments to her, not to me! Read the reviews andyou'll find that it was her idea!)My thinking on this is that Starfire would be extremely difficult to rape, given her powers, so any union of Slade and Starfire is going to be voluntary. I also of course would rather not have a rape in the story, because I want to keep the story PG-13 (T, by the new system). I also think that since it's clear that Slade and Robin are very similar, it wouldn't be out of place for either one to take the place at Starfire's side. I know that my profile says Starfire and Robin are always together, but there are very limited instances of other pairings such as Starfire/Speedy; Speedy also shares some of Robin's character traits. Since Slade shares even more of these traits, I see nothing wrong with a romance that transcends the constanthostility between heroes and villains (see what I mean?). Of course, if you are determined to see a Robin/Starfire pairing, just let me know. I can make it either one, depending on reader response **(but make sure you include something in your review so that I can know that you read my ENTIRE author's note before responding!).**


	8. Faintness of Heart

Author's Note: I want to make sure we're clear about one thing. Some of the reviews have cited Slade being "like" 40 or 50 years old. Perhaps in the comics he is; but in my story, Slade is chronologically eighty years old. However, his actual body is only twenty-five years old biologically, because it is a cloned body, not Slade's original body.

To sum up: Slade is biologically a 25-year-old male with 80 years of experiences crammed into his capacious brain. He is, of course, physically fit from all the exercise (fighting and training takes up a lot of energy). Do NOT tell me that it is disgusting to have an 80-year-old man marry a 17-year-old girl, because I have made this story so that Slade's body is much younger than his mind.

Here is Chapter 8:

Chapter 8

"The ships are entering visual range!" Cyborg reported from his station.

"Let's see them!" Robin ordered. Cyborg pushed a few buttons, making a central screen at the front of the ship light up. In the center were a few tiny orange dots. As the camera zoomed in, the dots quickly magnified into dart-shaped spacecraft, with the wider part of the ships pointed towards the direction of flight.

"Are those guys flying backwards?" Beast Boy asked.

"It sure looks like it!" Cyborg commented.

Suddenly a harsh, loud, male voice sounded on the T-ship's intercom: "Attention thieves! Stop your engines and your lives will be spared!"

"Thieves?" asked the four puzzled Titans, to no one in particular.

"They think we're thieves…" Raven observed.

"Raven, open a channel to the other ships!" Robin shouted. Raven quickly punched a button on one of the computer keyboards. Cyborg leaned towards a special microphone on the dashboard and said, "We're the Teen Titans. This is our ship!"

"Impossible!" boomed the harsh voice in reply. The ship belongs to our Crown Prince Robin. You are attempting to take a possession of the Tamaranian Crown, and if you do not stop immediately, you will be destroyed!"

Suddenly Robin realized what the man meant.

"I am Robin!" shouted Robin into the microphone. "We are not thieves!"

The harsh, angry voice of the man on the other end instantly became polite. "I apologize for mistaking you, Prince Robin. We thought you were thieves trying to take the T-ship…"

"It's okay. You can go home and get some sleep."

"Wait!" The Titans jumped, startled. It was Galifore's voice.

"Prince Robin!" Galifore called, "Where are you going so late at night? You are not thinking of going to Dreknath IV, are you?" Galifore sounded very worried.

"That's exactly where I'm going!" Robin replied defiantly.

"No, please, don't go! We are not yet strong enough to fight them. The whole planet will be destroyed!"

"Why can't you fight?" demanded Robin angrily, ignoring the panic in Galifore's voice completely. "You have weapons, technology, you have seven _billion_ potential soldiers! And you can't even stand up to a group of insects? You have fighter jets to spare for chasing us, but none to defend your planet? I'm not buying it!"

"Please, Prince Robin! The Empire has been crushed for over twenty years. We all lie prostrate at your mercy! Please, Prince Robin, save us all! Turn your ship around…"

"You. Pathetic. COWARD!" Robin yelled, now at the top of his voice. Even the other Titans instinctively dove away from him, seeking cover from the blazing inferno of his rage. "What kind of a people are you, willing to sacrifice your dearest princess to escape a little devastation! You are all cowards and you deserve everything those Dreknaths threaten you with!" With that Robin angrily switched off the microphone. Galifore's pathetic voice continued to sound through the speaker system, begging for his life, becoming gradually quieter as the distance increased and the radio signal weakened.

The Titans slowly and hesitantly emerged from their cover. Raven cautiously turned around and opened her eyes. Cyborg peeked out from behind a chair, standing up when he decided it was safe. A green cockroach crawled out from under another chair and resumed human form.

Meanwhile, light-years away, Slade pulled Starfire back up to his room inside a large Dreknathian ship. In better times, this ship would have been no match for a Tamaranian dreadnaught; but now that no more of those ships remained, the Dreknathian bioships were the most powerful ships in the sector.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Slade said for the umpteenth time, "Perhaps you would like another shower?"

"No, I would rather not," Starfire answered.

"Okay," Slade shrugged and removed his mask, heading into the bathroom. As he did, he pressed a small, unmarked green button on the wall. A metal plate slid out of the floor and covered the ladder hole in the back of the room firmly.

With nothing more to do, Starfire lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She was noticing the ceiling for the first time; it was painted with a huge map of the Vega star cluster, showing the positions of all the various planets. She looked around and soon found a small dot labeled "Tamaran". On the whole, the map was pretty accurate.

A few minutes later, Slade stepped out of the bathroom, covered only by an unnecessarily small towel around his hips. His white hair was glistening wet from the water. Slade strode slowly by, deliberately making sure that his muscular chest and arms and well-toned stomach were visible as he proceeded to the closet and pulled out a set of pajamas. The sight reminded Starfire of what she had seen of Robin when they had once been at the beach: Slade and Robin, with the exception of their clothing choices, were eerily similar, physically as well as mentally and emotionally. Starfire closed her eyes, then opened them, trying her best to suppress the graphic visions that were running through her head.

_I love Robin and only Robin_, she reminded herself, _I cannot be tempted by this man. No matter how much he is like Robin, he is evil, and I must not…_

Suddenly she felt the bed shake slightly as Slade jumped in. He slipped under the covers and started to snuggle closer to her. She shifted slowly away from him as he continued to bring himself closer. Suddenly she realized that she was at the edge of the bed, trapped by Slade's approaching body. He rolled over, deliberately touching her. She was panicked for just a moment and then instinctively relaxed into his warm, welcoming embrace. It was as if he was Robin instead of Slade. At that moment she suddenly remembered where she was and pushed him off her, shrieking loudly and rolling away as fast as she could…

And she fell right off the edge of the bed and onto the carpet, making a loud thump and an even louder shriek.

Slade leaped out of bed in an instant and was at her side. "Starfire, are you okay?" he asked.

End Chapter…

Another Author's Note:

It seems to me that the Slade/Starfire idea is gaining some traction among the readers. The pairing debate on this story seems to be getting more polarized. Most of the reviews are still asking for Robin/Starfire, but there is a growing number of reviewers who would prefer otherwise (well, it increased from one to five). I do know that I am seeing a level of fervor on both sides that is usually seen only in politics. Should I take it as a sign that my readers are extremely attached to my story? I really want to satisfy everyone, but you all are making it very hard for me.


	9. Breakfast with Slade

Chapter 9

The alarm clock on Slade's desk started to sound a siren, very softly at first, then gradually louder and louder. Slade opened his eye, reached to his clock and pounded a button, stopping the alarm immediately. It was 4:00 a.m. on the clock. Slade carefully withdrew the covers, trying not to disturb Starfire until he realized that she was already awake anyway. When he saw this, he quickly threw off the covers and jumped onto the warm carpet, putting on his armor suit.

Starfire wearily sat up in the bed. She looked around. They both simultaneously realized that Starfire didn't have any spare clothing. Slade hurried to the closet—looking quite comical, with one leg and his stomach covered in gray armor and the rest in ordinary pajamas—and rummaged through it, pulling out a blue, low-cut silk dress with spaghetti straps. "You can wear this," he said kindly, tossing the dress and its hangar to Starfire. "This belonged to my first wife about sixty years ago."

Starfire looked over the dress, then hesitated, glancing nervously towards Slade. Slade understood the signal immediately and turned to face the blank wall, granting her some privacy.

In the control deck of the T-ship, the Titans were each seated at a different set of panels. On the large round radar screen, some orange dots started to show up on the black background.

"There's some ships in front of us!" Cyborg called.

As the T-ship continued hurtling through space, more and more dots were rapidly showing up, until a dense cluster of dots lay at the top of the radar screen, gradually moving towards the center.

"Could that be an asteroid field?" Robin asked.

"No, they're way too organized. They look like they're in formation…a fleet of some sort…"

"The Dreknathians," Raven offered.

"Yeah, probably," Cyborg muttered.

"Get a visual," Robin said, "then we'll see what they are."

The ships did indeed look just like the ones they had seen on their way into the Tamaran system. As the T-ship got closer, the orange dots gradually changed to green ones, indicating that the objects had been identified.

"How are we going to get past all those ships?" Beast Boy asked nervously.

"We'll charge straight through them," Robin replied firmly.

"No! We can't!" Cyborg shouted.

"Our ship couldn't possibly take on the whole fleet," Raven insisted, We have to find a way around."

"We're not wasting any time!" Robin shouted. "If we go past them quickly enough, they might not notice!"

Slade led Starfire into the bathroom again. Although she let him hold onto one hand, she kept a starbolt ready on her other hand. "The kitchen's through here," Slade said, pulling open a wood-slatted folding door that Starfire had assumed was a closet. Instead, it led to a room with a microwave, a large oven, and a typical Earth countertop electric stove, plus a sink. Against the far wall was a small refrigerator.

Slade opened a cupboard, taking out two cups and handing one to Starfire. He took his own and filled it with the tap water.

"Go on, the water's pure. It's perfectly safe," he reassured her. For added assurance, he took off his mask, setting it on the countertop, and took a sip of the water himself. This seemed to reassure Starfire enough and she took some water from the tap, cautiously sipping it. She found that it actually tasted quite good.

Slade put his cup in the microwave and heated the water. In the meantime, he opened another cupboard and pulled out a box of herbal tea that looked shockingly similar to the one Raven frequently used in Titans Tower. The microwave beeped, and Slade took the cup out, dropping a packet of herbal tea into the water.

"Would you like anything to eat, Starfire?" he asked cordially. "I only need tea, due to my demon physiology. There's food in the refrigerator if you're hungry. We'll be arriving on Dreknath IV in about an hour." Slade returned to the bedroom, leaving Starfire to search the refrigerator for food.

She opened the door of the fridge; there were only two items inside: a can whose wrapper said "Fried Earthworms" (literally, a can of worms) and a plate of a familiar blue mold that looked strikingly similar to the mold found inside the Titans' refrigerator.

End Chapter…


	10. A Contested Marriage

**Author's Note**: I received a review pointing out that Slade's hair is BROWN, as seen in the episode "Apprentice pt. II". Yes, I too did see that! However, in my story "One Bad Scare Deserves Another" I did make Slade's hair brown and I got a review saying that Slade's hair is WHITE! So which is it?

I guess the comic book Slade might be different. How about this explanation: Slade's hair is naturally white but he sometimes dyes it brown for a more youthful appearance?

Chapter 10

Slade's ship came to the surface of one of the Dreknath moons, splashing into a large swamp. Slade led Starfire out of the ship and out of the swamp—Slade used his grappling hook to cross the distance without touching the water, while Starfire flew—and through a large jungle. They were moving among dense foliage, and there was no path; only Slade's grip on Starfire's wrist kept her from getting lost. Suddenly they burst out into a large clearing, in the center of which was an extremely large white metal shack.

"We will have our wedding ceremony here," Slade said. He led her into the shack. "This is my house."

The shack's spartan appearance on the outside was deceptive; the inside was surprisingly comfortable and had all the characteristics of an Earth home. Slade went to a closet and pulled out a white Tamaranian wedding dress of Starfire's size. "The priest should be here in fifteen minutes," Slade said. "You can wear this. You should probably take a shower first, though." Both of them were, indeed, covered in sweat, grime, and mud from the recent trek through the jungle.

"Where's the bathroom?" Starfire asked, looking around.

"Upstairs," Slade pointed to the wooden ladder that led up through a hole in the ceiling. She flew up through the hole and discovered an entire second floor, much like a house. There were three open doors on the floor; two led to bedrooms, one to a large bathroom that included a shower.

A vast field of dark green Dreknathian starships lumbered through space. Behind them, a smaller, brightly-colored ship was rapidly gaining on them.

Aboard the largest ship, Blackfire stood in the raised center of the bridge.

"We're being pursued by a small starship," a crew insect gurgled out in his native language. "Judging by size and shield output, it appears to be a military corvette. Faster than any of our ships, but not a threat."

"Open a channel!" Blackfire commanded in Tamaranian.

"Hailing frequencies open," the insect said in Dreknathian.

"Attention, alien ship! Please identify yourselves!"

There was no response.

"Identify yourself or you will be fired upon!"

The Titans looked worriedly at their leader.

"Say nothing," Robin ordered, "All power to the engines!"

Even faster than before, the T-ship darted forward, shooting past a Dreknathian ship near the rear of the fleet.

Blackfire tapped her foot, seeming to wait. After tapping her foot exactly ten times she stopped. "Target the corvette's engines, disable only," she said calmly, "Use only this ship's weapons."

Meanwhile…

Starfire floated back downstairs, wearing the dress. It was very similar to the one she had worn for her previous near-marriage to Gigriskklech (sp?). Slade was already waiting in a standard Earth tuxedo, without his mask.

"You look beautiful," Slade commented.

They walked outside, where a large group of Dreknathians was congregated. One of them strode up to meet them.

"Starfire, this is Zyldlwodfwiodxmkftowieujow, he's our priest," Slade introduced them. Starfire looked curiously at the insectoid, who looked back up at her through his multifaceted compound eyes.

A makeshift stage was prepared in the center and they went up to it. It was simply a wooden platform with a few stairs in the middle of each side. Zyldlwodfwiodxmkftowieujow took out a Bible from under his wing and held it with two limbs, using a third to turn pages, while he stood on the other three limbs, making him lean to one side for balance. He started to talk loudly and incomprehensibly in Dreknathian, facing Slade.

"I do," Slade said, seemingly responding to a question, although Starfire could discern none.

The insect turned to her and repeated almost the exact same gibberish, with a few changes.

"What did he say?" Starfire whispered to Slade.

"Just say 'I do'," Slade whispered back.

"I do," Starfire said, still confused.

The insect spoke some more. However, Starfire could not comprehend the language at all, when Zyldlwodfwiodxmkftowieujow spoke the Dreknathian translation of "I now pronounce you man and wife." Slade, however, had learned the language so he knew what they were saying.

Slade pulled Starfire close to him and kissed her, at which the Dreknathians began to cheer loudly and incomprehensibly. It was, of course, a standard part of any wedding, but Starfire didn't know that yet.

Meanwhile…

As the T-ship passed under Blackfire's vessel, some large, snot-green, nasty-looking projectiles departed from the larger ship, heading to the general direction of the T-ship. Cyborg, at the helm, dived the T-ship down to avoid the projectiles. One of them reached the T-ship's former position and exploded. The T-ship twisted and turned at high speed, so all the projectiles ended up detonating away from the T-ship, inflicting no damage. Green beams fired from the front of the Dreknathian vessel towards the T-ship, but Cyborg's piloting allowed all the beams to pass behind the ship and through empty space.

"The smaller ship has evaded our weapons," said an insect in Dreknathian.

"Launch shuttles!"

A large flap on the outside of the ship flopped open, revealing a massive black maw. Several small ships, similar to Slade's shuttle but green, dropped from their mothership and rocketed towards the fleeing T-ship.

"There's a bunch of shuttles heading for us! They're gaining on us!" Cyborg called.

"Shoot them down!" Robin shouted back.

"We can't!" Cyborg said, "We're using all the ship's power for our engines!"

"It's still not fast enough…" Robin mused to himself. "Slow us down just enough to get our aft weapons up and kill the enemy shuttles," he ordered.

After slowing the T-ship, Cyborg and Robin each moved to a side panel near the back of the room. These were the panels that controlled the T-ship's weapons. As the shuttles approached, blue sonic beams fired back from the T-ship. The Dreknathian shuttles, unfortunately, proved just as evasive as the T-ship, and Cyborg and Robin were unable to hit the shuttles.

Closer and closer the Dreknathians came…suddenly, the lead shuttle collided with the T-ship and exploded violently. The T-ship shuddered, throwing all the Titans to the floor. Red lights began to flash and an alarm went off, sounding three times before Raven jumped up and pushed a series of buttons on a computer panel and stopped the sound.

"Our engine's been disabled!" she reported.

Three of the Dreknathian ships gently attached themselves to the T-ship, using the sticky slime that coated them to stay stuck to the T-ship as they dragged it back to their mothership. Within a few minutes, the T-ship was safely inside Blackfire's vessel.

Inside the T-ship, the Titans heard pounding on the door.


	11. Honeymoon

Author's Note: A reviewer asked if Starfire knows she's married. The answer is yes. She didn't understand the language, but she knows what the words are supposed to be in English and Tamaranian.

Chapter 11

The confetti (the Dreknathian version) was thrown and Slade took Starfire back into his metal shack which passed for a house. He walked to the middle of the room, pulled back the rug, and opened a trapdoor in the ground. He jumped down through the trapdoor. "Jump in!" he called. Starfire floated after him and found that they were in a long underground tunnel. Slade pulled the trapdoor shut with a grappling hook and led Starfire through the long corridor, which was only dimly lighted at intervals.

Eventually the corridor ended at a large chamber in which a small, irregularly shaped spaceship was mounted. With a discreet push of a button on Slade's belt the door of the ship opened. Slade entered the vessel and sat in one of the several chairs around the sides of the ship. Starfire sat in another. Slade turned to one of the many computer panels on the wall, and pushed some buttons. The rockets behind the ship roared to life and the ship re-oriented to point vertically up as the roof opened, revealing the clouded Dreknathian sky.

"Where are we going?" Starfire asked.

"We're going on our—oh, wait. Starfire, are you familiar with the Earth tradition called a honeymoon?"

Starfire shook her head.

Very patiently, Slade started explaining what a honeymoon was.

Meanwhile…

The pounding on the T-ship's door became more insistent.

"Alright, we'll set the ship to self-destruct," Robin whispered, "then, Raven, get us up to the bridge of the ship. We'll take out the crew, seal the doors into the bridge, and hijack the ship while Blackfire's still down here."

Cyborg quickly ran to a console and punched a dizzying array of buttons. His hands, arms, and fingers were a blur as he entered the self-destruct sequence; it was designed to be difficult to enter, so that it couldn't be accidentally triggered. Then, the speakers started to sound:

"Five seconds to self-destruct!"

"Raven, now!"

The Titans were enveloped by the black shape of a raven which phased through the T-ship's hull and then into the Dreknathian ship. A second later, a massive explosion rocked the inside of the large starship. Fragments of the T-ship flew in all directions in the Dreknathian landing bay; the flaps of tissue closing the landing bay door were blown open. The fifty Dreknathian insects, along with Blackfire, were sucked into space. The Titans were away from it all as Raven flew them around, looking for the bridge.

Finally they found the bridge. A black raven climbed up through the middle of the floor, and all the Dreknathian crewmembers turned to look. Cyborg, Robin, and Beast Boy stepped out. Then, suddenly, the insects swarmed in, slashing at the Titans with their claws.

Blackfire quickly recovered her bearings and flew as fast as she could through the vacuum of space after the damaged flagship, finally getting into the gaping landing bay. The insects, however, were all dead.

Meanwhile…

Starfire nodded with apparent comprehension. "So we are on a honeymoon now?"

"Exactly," Slade said, smiling slightly. Suddenly a slightly larger, white-painted wing-shaped starship approached them from the front. As they passed each other, Starfire realized that it was Val-Yor's starship. And sure enough, there was Val-Yor in the cockpit, waving at them. His voice sounded on the intercom of Slade's ship:

"Hello there, troq!"

Slade opened a channel to Val-Yor's ship, while suddenly steering his ship around to pursue the retreating white wing shape.

"What did you just call her?" Slade demanded angrily, his tone more enraged than the Titans had ever seen.

"Nothing!" Val-Yor said defensively, hoping that the human Slade would not realize that it was literally true. "I just said—"

"How dare you call my wife worthless!" Slade shouted. "Apologize to her, now!"

"Why should I?" Val-Yor's voice taunted. "She's nothing. I will, however, pity you for being stuck to that—"

Slade punched a button on the console hard. A small opening on the front of Slade's ship flared orange, and beams of the same orange color zipped through space towards the white wing ship. The wing twisted and dived, evading all the beams.

"I can see that it's not your wife at the controls," Val-Yor said approvingly.

Red bolts started to leap off Val-Yor's spaceship and approach. Slade's skillful flying avoided all the fire.

Just then, there was a small beep and then a green blinking light on another panel.

"Star, press the light once!" Slade called.

Starfire put her thumb to the blinking button and pushed. Then, Blackfire's voice sounded through the speaker.

"Your Majesty, we just captured the T-ship," she said. "The T-ship self-destructed, blew fifty security guards and myself into outer space. The insects are all dead. What is your instruction?"

Even as Slade continued to fly the ship, twisting and turning to evade Val-Yor's weapons, he still spoke back:

"Blackfire, how heavily is your ship damaged?"

Another fusillade of orange lasers fired out towards Val-Yor, and he dodged them again. As Slade's guns fired, he listened to Blackfire saying:

"Half of the landing bay door is blown out. The areas of decks 37, 38, and 39 directly above the landing bay have been destroyed. All lower decks have been sealed to retain air. All the landing bay weapons and ventral shields are offline. It'll take a while to repair, sir."

Slade didn't pause in his skillful piloting as he said: "The Titans have been warned of the consequences of rescue and have disregarded them. Send the flagship to Dreknath for repair. Transfer yourself to another ship and send the entire fleet, except the damaged ship, to Tamaran. Once Tamaran has been completely and utterly destroyed, notify me."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Blackfire said, then there was a click as the channel was cut off.

"Well, well, I can see that you've finally decided to eradicate that planet of Troqs," Val-Yor's voice filled the cockpit again, "I commend you, Your Majesty. I'm sorry, I didn't know you were a king. Well, until next time…"

The white ship fled off to its destination and Slade's ship similarly resumed its original route.


	12. At Slade's Mercy

Chapter 12

With a final punch of Robin's green gloved fist, the last of the Dreknathians on the bridge of Blackfire's starship fell unconscious to the ground. Cyborg and Raven quickly sealed all three doors into the bridge.

Now, the four Titans looked around the large chamber. On each wall there were control panels, but they were wholly unintelligible to the English-speaking Titans. They looked at each panel and were about to give up when…

"Over here!" Cyborg said, pointing to a small panel on the armrest of the large chair near the middle of the back panel of the bridge. "The console's in Tamaranian…"

"What does it say?" Robin asked.

"There's a bunch of menus…Tactical…Internal sensors…Engineering…Navigation… Wait, all the other ships are moving away from us. They're heading in the direction of Tamaran!"

The other Titans gasped. They knew that Slade had detected them and ordered the fleet to destroy Tamaran.

"We need to stop them," Robin said. "Cyborg, open channels to the rest of the fleet and order them back to—no, tell the fleet to go to the other side of the galaxy."

Meanwhile…

A small green Dreknathian shuttle descended towards a large blue planet covered in white clouds. As the ship descended, Starfire recognized the large, irregularly shaped green and brown continents of Earth that grew gradually larger. Starfire recognized the Titans Tower as they came closer to the ground. Slade landed the ship right on the helipad on the roof of the Tower. They had landed at dusk, and half of the bright orange disk of the sun was above the horizon, lighting the sky in a brilliant red and orange glow.

They sat, Slade watching the sunrise and Starfire watching the roof they were sitting on.

"Something troubles you, my dear princess?" Slade asked in a tone of concern that would have matched Robin's, even though he knew full well what troubled her.

Meanwhile…

Cyborg pressed some buttons and spoke aloud some words in Tamaranian. The Titans looked at the navigational map anxiously while the many green dots representing the ships continued to move away.

"Look! It's working!" Beast Boy said. Sure enough, the rapidly moving dots halted and then began to move the other way on the screen, re-approaching them. What they would never know was that Cyborg's words had not even transmitted to the other ships; Blackfire had cut all communications from the bridge using her special access codes. The fleet was responding to Slade's orders from Earth, not to Cyborg's orders from the ship. Slade, at the eleventh hour, had suddenly decided not to destroy Tamaran.

At that moment there was banging and shouting on a door.

Meanwhile…

"Admiral Carsef? Hello there! This is Commander Val-Yor. The Dreknathians are preparing to wipe out the Troqs once and for all. Shall we join them?"

"Excellent! Val-Yor, you have done well. I will pass the news to the Grenathian high command. I'm sure they'll approve. In the meantime, Val-Yor, make haste for Dreknath IV and offer our alliance for a joint operation. Carsef out."

Back on Earth…

Slade closed his communicator and put it back in his belt, as Starfire stared in surprise, his final words still ringing in her ears. As smiling would be pointless under a mask, Slade instead gave her an affectionate wink and a nod.

At length Starfire found her voice: "I believe that it is against Earth custom to show gratitude to an enemy, but thank you for sparing my people."

It was Slade's turn to be shocked.

With the other Titans…

As the bridge doors of the alien Dreknathian ship were pounded inwards, Raven attempted to hold them shut with dark energy. Soon both doors were being attacked. Cyborg helped push at one door while Beast Boy, in elephant form, helped to hold the other. After a few minutes the pounding stopped. Then, moments later, the door exploded inward, blasting Cyborg several feet back. A fusillade of purple starbolts flew randomly from the door, forcing the Titans to dive for cover. Then dozens of Dreknathians poured in, brandishing their pointed claws at the Titans. The Titans assumed ready stances.

Suddenly Blackfire stepped in, brandishing a strange sword with a rifle handle-shaped hilt and a sparkling sapphire blade. She raised the weapon and the Dreknathians backed up a few steps.

"Titans, you have been given a reprieve," Blackfire declared. "Grenathia, not Tamaran, is the enemy. Your mission has been accomplished, Tamaran will be spared. Now, if you would be willing to assist us against the Grenathians, we would welcome it; if not, we will return you to Earth."

The Titans were so shocked that it was over a minute before Robin finally managed to say, "We'll go back to Earth, if you don't mind."

"Very well." Blackfire turned to an insectoid and spoke a few sentences in Dreknathian. Then she turned back to the Titans. "Azeijoawetqaow will escort you to the shuttle bay and give you a shuttle to return to Earth," she said, pointing to the insect, who motioned for the Titans to follow him as he crawled away. The Titans, still not fully comprehending what was going on, mutely followed the Dreknathian down to the shuttle bay.


	13. Diabolical Plans

Chapter 13

Slade piloted the shuttle far away from Earth, reflecting on his plans as he did so. So far, he thought, everything was going well. Soon, Starfire would belong to him. The Teen Titans would disperse and Robin would be broken. And if Slade so chose, he would be in a good position to begin his conquest of the galaxy, one planet at a time.

But none of that had happened yet. Slade knew better than to smugly assume his victory; he was a paranoid type, and he would not count his chickens before they hatched. Although he was optimistic about his current situation, he would still tread cautiously and take every possible step to assure the fruition of his diabolical designs.

In accordance with the plan he had worked out three years ago, Slade piloted his ship out into the void, taking Starfire to an area far from the major space lanes. He intended to bring her to an isolated place free of interruptions. That night, he would seduce her in his cabin, which was loaded with hidden videocameras and other surveillance devices. Then he would anonymously send the resulting graphic videotapes to Robin. Slade knew that Robin, like himself, held on to grudges with an iron grip, and Starfire would plead in vain for his forgiveness. Robin would never take her back. Without a place among the Titans, Starfire would be susceptible to Slade's welcoming arms.

Slade knew that Starfire's departure would be the end of the Teen Titans. Starfire was the force that held the fractious Titans together as a cohesive group. Slade knew this firsthand because he had placed all sorts of hidden surveillance devices throughout Titans Tower. During Terra's short stay with the Titans, she had secretly placed many videocameras and wiretaps for him, and Slade's robots had taken advantage of the day of her betrayal to drop even more devices wherever they could. Slade had watched the Titans closely for three years, and he had seen Cyborg and Beast Boy arguing the tofu issue every morning, Raven meditating on the rooftop at sunrises, Robin staying up late in the evidence room to obsess over Slade clues (this last had given Slade some soothing reassurance, for it showed that all the fake clues he planted to throw Robin off did indeed work), and he knew the Titans' hidden weakness: they often did not get along harmoniously. Slade observed that almost always Starfire would mediate the arguments and restore good feelings in the Tower. Such was her pathos that the Titans, time and again, laid aside irresolvable disputes for her sake. It was only in this manner that the Titans continued to watch over Jump City, protecting its inhabitants from all dangers.

Slade glanced again at the nav computer. They were almost at his destination. In a few hours, the Teen Titans' fate would be sealed.

------Several light-years away...----

A new chapter was begun in galactic history with the opening of the Dreknath War. The Grenathian fleet commanded by Admiral Carsef had arrived in the Tamaran star system to rendezvous with an allied Dreknathian fleet under Ambassador Blackfire. The Grenathians were unaware that their counterparts had decided to break the alliance, and so Blackfire's forces achieved complete surprise in their attack on the Grenathian fleet. The Republic of Grenathia's First and Third Fleets were totally annihilated in a three-hour chase. All 760 deployed Grenathian starships were destroyed, along with 9,826 out of 9,840 snubfighters and shuttles; over 400,000 Grenathian crewmen were lost. The Dreknathian force took about as many casualties, but it was still a favorable exchange rate as they outnumbered the Grenathians vastly. Only 113 Dreknathian starships were destroyed, out of a total fleet of over 1,700 vessels.

It was a disastrous loss for the Grenathian civilization. The massive casualties had tipped the material balance permanently in the Dreknathian Empire's favor. Two weeks later, the Republic of Grenathia ceased to exist as a sovereign nation. The Grenathians fought heroically, inflicting a kill ratio of over 25 to 1 on the Dreknathian invaders, but it was insufficient when the Grenathians were outnumbered by 50 to 1. In the wake of the battle, Dreknathian troops massacred at least one billion Grenathian civilians, often mutilating the bodies, and enslaved the rest of the population.

The Dreknathian Empire had gained the eternal gratitude of the Tamaranian people by saving them from the Grenathian assault. In so doing, the Dreknaths earned the hostility of Tamaran's enemies--all those who considered Starfire's race to be _troqs_. Two days after the Battle of Grenathia, Blackfire's fleet outmaneuvered and destroyed a Gordanian relief force that had arrived too late to save the Grenathians.

Slade's plans had come to fruition at this point, and he now ruled over an empire at war...

--THE END--

Author's Note:

Due to several requests, there will be a sequel to this story (Betrothed III). It may take me a while to put it up due to school and all that, but I'll do my best.


End file.
